49ers lean on the dazzling McCaffrey to defeat Falcons, 20-10
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Cancel those reservations for the Super Bowl.
The Falcons could not follow up their mega-win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday with another quality victory.
They battled the 49ers but did not muster up enough offense as Mac Jones outdueled Michael Penix Jr. to carry the 49ers to a 20-10 win on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium.
“We have to do a better job coaching,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “We have to do a better job playing. Ultimately, those things fall on us, and we’ll get them fixed.”
The 49ers improved to 5-2 on the season, while the Falcons dropped to 3-3.
Jones, who was starting for the injured Brock Purdy, leaned heavily on dynamic running back Christian McCaffrey, who scored two rushing touchdowns. He scored from four yards out with 2:26 to play for the final 10-point margin.
McCaffrey rushed 24 times for 129 yards. He also caught seven passes for 72 yards.
“He’s just so efficient,” Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss said. “He does everything right. ... He reads everything perfect and he’s so precise with his run game, his catch game. He’s a great player. You love going against the great ones.
”He got the best of us today.”
Falcons running back Bijan Robinson rushed 14 times for 40 yards. He also caught six passes for 52 yards and a touchdown.
“Just being a competitor, it’s always in me to compete with my peer, with Christian,” Robinson said. “Dude did outstanding today. Very hard to stop. I give him so much credit. It’s such a blessing watching a guy like that. For me, I just have to be better for my team.”
Linebacker JD Bertrand, who finished the game for Divine Deablo, who sustained a forearm injury in the first half, also was impressed.
“I mean, we just knew they were a running team,” Bertrand said. “They are a more, you could call old-school, where they put the 21 personnel, 22 personnel. They are definitely are a running team. The biggest thing for us was stopping those mush yards.”
The plan was simple for the 49ers — slow down Robinson and take away wide receiver Drake London in the passing game.
After having 10 catches for 158 yards against Buffalo, London had just four catches for 42 yards.
The Falcons’ last-ditch drive ended with a turnover on downs with 1:27 to play.
“We want to win,” Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. said. “I feel like whenever you think like we couldn’t run today. ... At the end of the day, we have to find a way to win, (whether) it’s on the ground or if it’s in the air. Whatever it takes, that’s what we have to do.”
Behind some strong running from McCaffrey, the 49ers held a 10-3 lead at halftime.
After an exchange of punts, the Falcons put together a 19-play drive that flowed into the second quarter. After the drive stalled at the 49ers’ 15-yard line, kicker Parker Romo made a 38-yard field goal to put the Falcons up 3-0 with 12:54 left in the second quarter.
Elliss intercepted a Jones pass to get the ball back for the offense. The offense was set up to take early control of the game, but the Falcons couldn’t capitalize on the turnover and were forced to punt.
The 49ers stayed with their rushing attack and started to carve into the Falcons’ defense, with linebacker Divine Deablo out following a forearm injury. The 49ers put together a 13-play, 80-yard drive, which culminated with McCaffrey scoring from a yard out to make it 7-3.
On the Falcons’ next possession, right tackle Elijah Wilkinson whiffed on his attempted block of Bryce Huff, who leveled Penix and caused a fumble. San Francisco’s Alfred Collins recovered.
The defense bowed up and forced a 55-yard field-goal attempt by Eddy Piñeiro, which had a few yards to spare.
The Falcons zipped down the field off a pass play of 19 yards to London and a 38-yard gainer to Darnell Mooney with 17 seconds left. Penix then was called for intentional grounding, which led to a loss of a down and a 10-second run-off to end the first half.
The 49ers had the ball to start the second half and continued to maul the Falcons up front. McCaffrey had inside runs for 4, 2 and 12 yards in the middle of the drive. The drive stalled at the Falcons’ 25 and Piñeiro added a 43-yard field goal to make it 13-3 with 10:09 left in the third quarter.
After Jamal Agnew busted free for a 45-yard kickoff return, the Falcons went on the move. Penix tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Robinson to make it 13-10 with 6:28 left in the third quarter.
Defensive tackle Ta’Quon Graham and safety Xavier Watts were credited with a big 3rd-and-1 stop of fullback Kyle Juszczyk to force a punt.
The Falcons drove to the 49ers’ 42, but had a 3rd-and-14 after they were called for a delay of game on 3rd-and-9. The punt was downed at the 49ers’ 4 by KhaDarel Hodge with 58 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Falcons forced a punt and got the ball back with 12:48 to play at their 17-yard line.
The Falcons moved out to San Francisco’s 35, but were stopped on 4th-and-1 when a pass intended for London was broken up by San Francisco cornerback Chase Lucas with 8:16 to play.
“We’ll be all right,” Elliss said. “We’ll bounce back.”
The Falcons are set to host the Dolphins (1-6) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
